Tag Archives: 80s

Post navigation

Those of you that have followed my blogs know my love/hate (or hate/love) for the new Masters of the Universe Classics line. But in light of Masters of the Universe day, I’ve put aside my biased views and decided to join my toy brethren from the many sites across the internet in a general celebration of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

While being born in 1982, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe occupied a lot of my young life. One of the happiest photos I have of myself is opening a Skeletor and Panthor set, I couldn’t be more than 4 years old. It was my first nerdgasm, look at my face in the photos and feel the intensity. I remember not caring much for the cartoon though. I liked the figures and owned (and still do) every figure made in the line, from Wonder Bread He-Man to Laser Light He-Man and beyond. My main fault with the cartoon was I wasn’t much of a sword and sorcery kind of kid. I liked spacemen and mutants and robots. Sure there was Roboto and some of the good and bad guys were cybernetic or mechanical but magic didn’t impress me much. Later in the 80s the New Adventures of He-Man came on the air and I was hooked. Spaceships, mutant creatures, lasers and other cool stuff kept me coming back every episode. The only bad thing was the Ne Adventures figures weren’t all that compatible with the older He-Man line, the main reason I didn’t buy into it until I found loose figures at yard sales or flea markets the years following the inevitable end of He-Man. My favorite figures from the 80s still consist of Sagitar, Hoove, and Slush Head. But there’s one that upped the creepy factor and translated very well to the Classics line.

Optikk remains a very popular figure in my mind, both the original and the classics version. Where the 4 Horsemen (the sculptors of the line) excel is in their presentation of a classics figure’s modern update. They do everything in their power to stay true to the source material and this figure doesn’t disappoint. The lone eye sits cradled in the divot atop the shoulders of the robot suit Optikk uses to get around in. The body is the same basic body you’ve come to expect from the MOTUC line but what sets this figure apart is the soft chest cover that hides the majority of the muscular buck underneath. Keeping true to the original figure there’s plenty of rivets, hoses, and layers of sculpted “scrap metal” that makes up the exterior of the exo-suit and it’s all topped with a very nice copper toned paint in varying shades. The eye is removable and interchangeable with an additional eye packaged with the figure featuring a different colored iris. Also packaged with the figure is a faithful reproduction of the original laser rifle, perfect down to the sculpted cylinder (which always made me second guess the workings of a laser gun; such as are there laser bullets or is it all battery powered.). Also included is a shield which is a very nice touch. It’s very radar dish shaped with a domed center, very fitting for a guy who’s little more than an eye.

Optikk was always a favorite of mine from the original New Adventures line but this figure holds significance in it’s own right. If you’ve read some of my blogs, you’ll get a theme that most toys in my collection hold a small story behind them and MOTUC Optikk is no exclusion to that. In the spring of 2010 when this figure came out I was laid up for nearly 3 months with acute liver poisoning. No explanation, no real diagnosis, I just turned yellow and laid in bed sort of wasting away. The monthly packages from Matty Collector helped pass the time but deeper into my illness the toys just seemed like they weren’t helping my mood. That sort of changed when I got Optikk. I remembered the good times I had with the original figure and while most of the figures from my Matty Collector boxed were piled up beside my bed unopened, this sucker was ripped open immediately. He was my buddy throughout my recovery, carried him in my pocket anywhere I went (much like the original one) and about a month later I was back on my feet and fully recovered. I’m not saying he was the cure or anything but Walter Peck from Ghostbusters came in the same box and he didn’t get opened till that Fall. And who needs a figure of the dickless guy who tried to shut down the Ghostbusters while they are slowly dying?

I was very lucky to fall into the brand new TMNT classics Bebop and Rocksteady just a few days before Thanksgiving. I will never understand the mentality of releasing toys the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’s infuriating when you collect modern toys and one of the many reasons I don’t chase down toys at retail anymore. This was one of those exceptions for sure. While I didn’t pick up the turtles I had made plans to get Bebop and Rocksteady from the moment they showed the production samples. I had my pre-order in with one of the major online retailers but when my order was cancelled (due to it being announced as a TRU exclusive) I knew I’d find myself wandering the aisles of Toys R Us with other forsaken man-children like myself. One good thing about the local TRU near me is it’s rarely busy with other collectors so if there’s something I want I can get it with little to no struggle which is good, after the 2nd strike out at retail I either give up looking for the figure or contemplate making an eBay purchase.

Rocksteady

Rocksteady comes in 6 inch scale with ample amounts of articulation, detail and decent paint applications. He also comes with updated reproductions of the original weapons he was packaged with in the late 80s; a military knife that would make Crocodile Dunee proud and some kind of automatic assault rifle that you’d expect to see Terry Crews carry in the Expendables movies. In fact, after mentioning that I would love to see Crews play Rocksteady, someone in Hollywood make this happen for me. Anyways, he comes with the standard display base with Rocksteady printed on it. the figure is a great mixture of 3 sources of media; the TMNT comic book, cartoon and original Playmates figure. The package is even embossed with the statement “inspired by the 1988 release”. The face sculpt really stands out on this figure, it’s probably my favorite part of the whole toy. The only fault I really found with him was the goggles weren’t painted on his helmet like they were in the production samples but the helmet is removable with for me kind of balances out that flaw.

Bebop

Bebop was my favorite of Shredder’s bungling henchmen. I was always drawn to the really rebellious punk look about him with his signature purple mohawk and matching sunglasses set him apart from Rocksteady. Bebop is reimagined in 6 inch scale by taking the best of what made him visually stunning in the TMNT comics, cartoon and Playmates figure. Bebop also has roughly the same range of articulation that Rocksteady has. He’s looks a great deal bulkier than Rocksteady and comes with a reproduction of his signature drill gun. Sadly, Playmates omitted his other weapon from his debut figure; the trash can lid shield. While for most people it won’t cause too much of a big deal to die hard fans it’s kind of a glaring omission. I guess becuase he’s a hair broader than Rocksteady they decided to do without the shield, for $20 I guess I expect too much. It’s still a great figure either way.

I know I said I didn’t get the turtles and I still don’t plan on getting them any time soon unless they are on the cheap side. Roughly 2/3 of the ones I found at retail had off-centered eyes; they were either lazy eyed, cross eyed or wall eyed. The only “perfect” ones I found were at conventions and I wasn’t willing to pay 30% over retail to get better painted ones. Even at that the turtles a friend of mine got suffered from Marvel Legenditis, where the knee or ankle joints (or both) got weak and couldn’t support the weight of the figure. I have an intolerance to figures that collapse for no reason, especially when they “domino” other figures along with them. It’s part of the reason I don’t own Marvel Legends figures anymore (the other part was they were worth a ton of money and I was between jobs so they had to go). Anyway, even with the heafty price tag of $19.99 each at Toys R Us ($22.99 in some markets, check your local one for pricing) they are totally worth picking up and I don’t get excited by modern figures much anymore unless they are imports or some kind of special release. Good for fans of the OG series and people just picking up on how cool TMNT is.

I think here at Raging Nerdgasm we revel in older toys. There’s a certain undeniable charm to them, they come from a day and time in the past where today’s political correctness didn’t exist and they represent the period in world history. Megatron represented a simpler time where kid’s playing with toy guns wasn’t demonized the way it is today, 2 foot tall jumbo Shogun Warriors shot missiles and fists hard and quick enough to put an eye out or otherwise seriously injure your siblings and LJN wrestlers were made out of enough petroleum that three to five of them could have filled your gas tank if they’d remained in their crude form. I’m drawn to these toys, not only as a child of the 80s and 90s but as a toy and pop culture historian. Today, while digging through all the treasures in my storage I found something I couldn’t pass up talking about.

In 1988, banking on the success at the box office, Warner Brothers had Ruby-Spears productions create a Police Academy cartoon show. The show only lasted a year but they squeezed two seasons out of the thin premise (remember, they were still making Police Academy movies through the 90s) and even a short run comic book series (via Marvel/Star Imprint Comics). The show even had a theme song by then popular “The Fat Boys” and featured them in two episodes if I remember clearly. The real jewel of this cartoon was the toys. Let’s face it, the 90s brought us toys based off of R rated properties like Alien, Predator, Robocop and Terminator but Kenner used the cartoon as an excellent segue to introduce kids to the characters made famous by their cinematic counterparts. The series was great, covering every member of Commandant Lasard’s team and a good selection of their nefarious no-good-nics they locked up in each episode. The line also had it’s share of tie-in accessories so kids could play out the cartoon action in their own living room. Wallet with badge, tear gas cans, policeman’s hat with radio but the stand out piece for me was the handcuffs.

Growing up I never got the role play pieces of my favorite lines. Just like my explanation from past blogs when I discussed carrying cases, my money was spent acquiring figures and vehicles and playsets. That and also I was big for my age and holding a Sword of Omens looked dumb and carrying around a Proton Pack looked even more silly. It’s almost even funnier being a grown man tracking down these pieces I never owned but I can’t say I specifically hunted them down, I just pick up what comes my way. I found these Police Academy handcuffs in a dollar bin at a flea market months ago. These are great, giant comically over-sized hands that “lock” into place around whomever’s wrists you choose. I can see these being a personal favorite if I had them as a child, I think the ridiculous factor is key in making these just that much cooler than a sword or even another piece of role play from the Police Academy line. Mine, most unfortunately, came without the keys but luckily they aren’t a piece necessary to be able to enjoy the handcuffs.

For all the potential Who Framed Roger Rabbit had for toys, Disney sold it way too short. I think handing the license to LJN was probably the worst thing they could have done, worse than just not making toys period. I know I’m talking about the same company that brought the world Thundercats, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Voltron, Tigersharks and the ever iconic WWF Superstars but let’s face it LJN had more failures than successes. Don’t even get me started on their video game productions, I don’t want to get into a Angry Video Game Nerd-esque rant here. LJN produced two lines of equally crappy figures and I’ll be honest, I like them. I’m a complex guy, I’ll talk trash about something for years but hold onto it because I like it. If there were better toys available, I’d buy them and throw these up on my BluJay store. Till then I’ll talk about these.

(the LJN logo; no gold at the end of that rainbow)

There was two lines of Who Framed Roger Rabbit toys from LJN as I stated earlier. One was a series of 3 inch articulated figures; Judge Doom, Eddie Valiant, Roger Rabbit and Wiseguy Weasel. These were fairly bad, even for being released in 1988. They were painfully stiff looking figures that made happy meal toys look more desirable. Not only were the figures cursed with bad articulation and horrible likenesses but they were strangely flat, as in the figures had little to no girth at all. Anyways, I own Eddie and Roger only because they came in a collection of Super Powers figures I bought nearly a decade ago off eBay. More recently I got the Benny the Cab while on vacation in Orlando at a flea market. I barely even relate Benny to this line because 1) he saw limited release in America and was on clearance when he showed up overseas 2) he’s far nicer than anything made by LJN between 1988 and their death in 1995.

(seriously, this is the only toy LJN did right in this whole line)

(this was made by McDonalds years after the movie and it’s better looking than most of these figures)

(eh, this was made by Applause and shows no one has really done Roger Rabbit justice in toy form)

LJN made a series of bendy figures based off the movie and called them Flexies. I have a strange love/hate relationship when it comes to bendy toys. Some of them are really interesting like some of the old Advanced Dungeons and Dragons figures or some of the old AHI monsters but most of them look like old and chewed on Gumby figures. The Flexies in comparison to the basic action figures were giants, nearly 3 times the size. They suffered from the same strange “squished flat” disorder that the action figures did but this time they made 6 different characters for kids to spend their hard earned chore money on. I have a vague memory of seeing these at my local toy stores when I was a kid and I remember them bearing large red clearance stickers almost immediately. Competition was tough during the year of 1988, He-Man was still a contender, GI Joe was prevailing, COPS was just about the best value for your money, TMNT was starting their inaugural year and it did look like anything could stop Transformers. I know I just keep bashing LJN but if any other company had the rights to the toys we (or maybe just me, I could be alone in my assumption that this series sucked) could have had some bad ass toys.

(this is a good bendy figure)

(these on the other hand….)

Roger Rabbit

He kind of looks like someone dropped a ton of bricks on him. They did get the color pallet right though. The ears a bendable along with the torso, arms and stubby legs. Congratulations if you car get them to hold a pose though, the rubber is just slightly too thick to allow the inner wire to retain a shape. Don’t get me wrong though, in hand the make you reminisce about your days playing with LJN WWF wrestlers. I like the idea of big sturdy toys that you can bludgeon a sibling with, it brings a certain amount of joy to my dark heart. Roger also comes with a set of handcuffs to recreate those memorable scenes from the movie. They are nothing really special but they do the job. Side note, LJN made a giant Roger Flexies that I somehow really want to own for stupid reasons. I guess it’s because I already own this unholy hexad of figures, might as well purchase their overlord.

Jessica Rabbit

I have a strange obsession with Jessica Rabbit. When I was a young lad I had what could be described as a “thing” for Jessica Rabbit and Betty Boop. Being 1988 and being a boy of six years of age, I was fairly impressionable. Sadly, they never made what I considered an acceptable figure or doll of Jessica Rabbit. The only positive thing I can remark about this Flexies figure is one of two characters from the line that retain poses. The cloth accent to complete the illusion of a full skirt is more annoying than appealing. Under the skirt (yes I looked) reveals the top part of the dress becomes just a one-piece swimsuit and the skirt is made out of a cheap and sand paper coarse fabric. But it does pose and retain those poses, there’s something to be said about that. Meh!

Wiseguy Weasel

I loved the design and concept of the weasels in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. They were the perfect archetype for a villain’s henchmen / minions. Loyal, lethal and dumb as a box of LJN video games. Wiseguy suffered the squished flat syndrome his action counterpart did, which is a shame because I think he was about the most screen accurate figure from the line. He includes a yellow plastic linked chain that wraps around his waist. He also has a gun molded into his hand which makes him the second best figure in the line, at least in my honest opinion. I miss cartoon violence.

Eddie Valiant

I’m just going to get this out of the way, I like Bob Hoskins a lot as an actor. Any man that plays Smee in two totally different productions of a Peter Pan movie has my vote for being one of the most underrated actors of all time. He was also Mario Mario and that holds a special place in my no shame guilty movie pleasures. He also drank heavily to get through that movie and I find that kind of cool. This Flexies and the action figure both suck, there isn’t any other way to put it. No redeeming qualities at all. The color of the suit is also this horrible fecal brown, the kind of suit you’d commonly see in a thrift store. The kind that was used for a funeral but stripped off the corpse just before they cremate it. My mind goes to strange places, sorry but it’s the best visual I can paint. Eddie also comes with the same handcuffs as Roger which makes this figure even more boring, if that was possible.

Baby Herman

This is my favorite figure from the line. If it wasn’t for what amounts to possibly mild ADHD I’d sell the set and keep this figure. It’s the only time I’m aware of they made a Baby Herman in “adult” form. I wish he had a cigar accessory or came with his baby stroller instead of the highchair. The highchair accessory is kind of lost on the figure, he doesn’t really “flex”. I do like the fistful of cash Herman is gripping onto, which reminds me I also liked Wiseguy Weasel solely on the fact he has the gun molded into his hand. I guess that makes two figures I’d keep if I could convince myself to sell these.

Judge Doom

Here is where I was hoping for the figures to wow me, they didn’t. The action figure Judge Doom was a let down, for an intimidating movie antagonist his action figure and Flexies toy gives the impression of an angry old man wanting you to get the fuck off his lawn. Both toys also came with a vulture which was never in the movie in the first place. Would have made for an awesome pet / companion in the film but to package it with the toy is confusing. I mean it’s really conflicting, I would have loved to have seen that vulture added to the movie. Fucking LJN. He also comes with a cane but it’s little more than a black plastic stick.

In the end, I guess I’m fairly happy I have these in my collection. I like them but only on the surface, they look great on my wall of carded figures and they are good to use as an example of what a bad bendy figure looks like. Past that, they remind me what a poor company does with a great license. For a modern example look at anything made by Jazwares. And the level of fail in these figures doesn’t taint my memories of the movie, I was a grown man before I owned any of the LJN Roger Rabbit toys. That’s the strange appeal of vintage toys, they are nostalgic but they may not be the best representation of the characters you love.

The toy world has seen a lot of strange things. It’s a vast, expansive world full of legendary licenses, the mediocre, the uninspired and plenty of pretenders clawing for whatever glory they can attain. I consider myself a perpetual student of my craft, there is no one person that knows everything about toys made in modern history. Anyone who claims to be all knowing is a damn liar, I’ve gone toe-to-toe with the best and left them defeated and yet I’ve been bested in a game of wits based on toy knowledge. But enough comparing peckers, we are here to talk about the toys.

I’m a sucker for obscure toys, the only down side of obscure toys is the price tags they carry. Most of the time they are artificially inflated but there are few times where I can say the price reflects it’s actual value. Now some people get terms confused when I say obscure and bootleg. A bootleg can be obscure but a bootleg is usually an unlicensed reproduction or facsimile of a popular line or character made out of usually substandard materials. An obscure figure can be anything from a licensed toy from a well done line (IE- Scratch from TMNT) or a non-licensed figure from a line made to capitalize on the success of another line (or simply put, a knock off). Knock off figures are most of the time made to play with the figures from whatever line they are trying to mimic but what happens when a figure transcends the borders a couple of genres? Well, you are left with the brilliantly half baked toy I’ve painstakingly built up so much in the last two paragraphs. I have a flair for dramatics and wordy expositions, those of you who have trudged through it are rewarded.

Celestra was reportedly Queen of the Kingdom of Transforming Dolls. It’s a tiny soveriegn nation with a known registry of 4 known citizens; Queen Celestra, Vulcania Thrusterbottom, Saturnia Rings and Zarla Mercedes-Benz. I’m assuming Zarla is a widow as I have never met anyone else claiming citizenship of Transforming Doll Kingdom. As far as I know the nation doesn’t have a spot on the UN security council which I feel is in poor taste because who else can properly save the world from the threat of WMDs if it isn’t a team of women from a land where everyone transforms into some kind of mechanical conveyance? I don’t see France stepping forward with a transforming Eiffel tower or croissant or anything like that.

Placo Toys made the transforming dolls. Now Placo hasn’t really made much of a dent in the toy world and as far as I can tell they still exist. They found a convenient nitch by making a lot of generic toys that can be easily turned into licensed products with a well placed graphic slapped on it like ping-pong ball guns, flashlights, garbage cans and keychains. Other than Celestra their only other action figure forays seem to be 8 inch tall boxed Universal Monsters (similar to the carded or tagged Imperial ones) and some incredibly dull Youngblood figures (before McFarlane toys did them quasi-justice). One thing I can say they did well other than these Celestra figures were the die-cast and articulated Star Wars key chains and figural Mortal Kombat key chains that trumped everything Jazwares ever did with the Mortal Kombat license.

The Celestra dolls are 4 1/2 inch articulated female figures with rooted hair and a comb accessory. Not enough figures today come with combs, I literally have jars of swords and guns but very few combs. Each of the dolls are removable from their transforming cocoons but I can’t verify if the cocoons are interchangeable. The idea of a transforming dolls is madness, but I guess gender ambiguous kids had a big share of the market back in the 80s. I’m not sure if a young me would have been drawn to these or not, I can’t begin to think I’d choose it over a Go-Bot or a clearance Super Natural figure. It’s not a Reese’s Cup, these are two tastes that don’t taste great together and it looks like the toy you’d see if you were stuck at a CVS or Walgreen’s picking up medicine. But my appreciation of older and obscure toys makes this toys all that much cooler in my adult life.

I have, what I will describe as, an irrational love for “things”. I get hung up on stupid things, it’s one of my admitted shortcomings. I make lists of these things; toys, cartoons, video games, restaurants, hamburgers, ways to prepare macaroni and cheese, costumed Disney characters, etc. These lists go on and on forever, I probably have some form of obsessive compulsive disorder if you analyze it hard enough. If I was to compile a list of cartoons I love irrationally, Count Duckula is probably near the top for sure. Granted, the cartoon doesn’t exactly hold up well against re-watching it now that I’m an adult but honestly which cartoons do? He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is hard to watch (even harder to watch without making a few “gay” jokes to pass the time), Thundercats is pretty much a snore-fest (I swear the lady voicing Cheatara was smoking blunts in between takes) and C.O.P.S, (for as great a concept as it was) seems exceedingly childish when watching it as an adult. Believe me I know these cartoons are made for kids but they seemed so amazing when I was younger. So their mission was accomplished at least, they were entertaining. Not every cartoon can have the staying power of Batman: The Animated series, Pinky and the Brain, Gargoyles, Animaniacs or even Darkwing Duck/DuckTales (I count them as one continuity, but I’ll explain that in another blog). Without further lamenting over ancient cartoons, I give you my irrational love for Count Duckula.

(That is one epic intro)

Count Duckula was a British cartoon that made it’s way into American homes care of the fine folks at Nickelodeon. This was far before NickToons was established and the channel got a lot of it’s programming from secondary sources outside the USA (You Can’t Do That On Television was Canadian). The first time I saw it was when it debut on the channel back in the late 80s and I couldn’t have been more than 7 at the time. I was already a strange little kid, trading playtime outside with other kids on Saturday morning and afternoon for watching network TV cartoon programming blocks and Dr Paul Bearer’s Saturday afternoon Creature Feature or trading birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese for getting massive hauls of video games and toys instead (a $200 birthday party equals a lot of loot, especially when you get to do the shopping). A cartoon about an animated vampire duck was totally up my alley in a big way.

(that’s a hell of a family)

The cartoon starts off dark and eerie with a gloomy castle, a lightning storm, a pentagram and a deep voiced narrator. Oh yeah, it’s getting really good now. The explanation of the character thickens as they go on to saying that he’s been killed several times in the past and can only be resurrected once every 100 years while the moon is in the eighth house of Aquarius. This is awesome for me because even as a little kid I knew the references they were making to the Hammer Horror films. Ketchup accidentally gets substituted for the blood needed for the incantation to go correct and out springs Count Duckula the 17th……the world’s first and only vegetarian vampire duck? Needless to say I was confused but still engaged and interested enough to keep watching.

(Duckula as seen on Danger Mouse)

The good count made his first appearance in the Danger Mouse cartoon as a reoccurring bad guy. They make a correlation between the appearances in the Count Duckula cartoon by having him wear Danger Mouse pajamas. It’s said that every time the count is resurrected he has no memory of his previous lives and no preset disposition (besides the blood sucking thing but CD the 17th breaks that mold). They compliment the character by giving him a stereotypical gothic butler who is rather disappointed in him not being a vampire and an oafish hulk of a nanny who’s certainly stronger than she is smarter. Even the antagonists give more throwbacks to classic horror such as Dr Von Goosewing, a send off to the classic vampire hunter Van Helsing. The Count also doesn’t suffer from the Dracula cliches like being deathly allergic to sunlight. I never count the whole steak to the heart thing because I haven’t met a person on this planet that can withstand that wound. The show is entertaining and does a decent job of spoofing classic Dracula lore and hit me at an influential time where that love for classic horror needed to be fed in a particular way.

(not the signed copy, it’s in storage at the moment)

As for feeding my irrational love for the cartoon, I have done well if I say so myself. I have a t-shirt with the cartoon logo on it and the entire series on DVD and digital download. I have the entire comic book run with 2 copies of the Geraldo Rivera issue, one signed by Geraldo himself about 4 years ago when I sent him two copies and graciously asked him to sign one in return. I’m fairly certain I can recite the theme song from beginning to end (I’m less proud of that now that I’m reading it typed out). Recently, while trying to feed my need for another piece of Count Duckula memorabilia, I lost an auction for a bootleg articulated figure from Argentina made exclusively for the South American market. That was a sad day but there’s never just one of anything in the world. I set my sights on eBay but little did I know where my next fix for Count Duckula was coming from.

(the spoils of the hunt)

And my most recent addition to feed my addiction was licensed Count Duckula figurines from a defunct company called Star Toys of Spain. Star Toys made licensed toys for the European market like figurines for the likes of the WWF, they also made highly desirable 14 inch WWF figures with tons of accessories and rooted hair like a doll. I had seen the gamut of Count Duckula related merchandise and never been impressed enough to buy any of it. T-shirts I can make at home with iron on transfers, mousepads are silly keepsakes and I can’t bring myself to buy a Count Duckula costume; I’m way too fat to even attempt it as a joke. I knew that one day I’d come across something worth buying. And hopefully that day would come before I was forced by my irrational admiration for the series to buy something silly, forcing my hand in the name of fandom to spend money against my better judgement.

I’m glad my wife found these while hunting at the local flea market. Buying things online is tough when you aren’t familiar with the product. For all I know these could be complete garbage and not worth the time or money to import ( older European toys rarely show up at conventions or shops and worldwide shipping is the bane of my existence). My wife saw them in a flea market booth weeks ago hiding in a rotating jewelry case full of other figurines. 2 of the Count and 1 of Dr Von Goosewing, I normally don’t buy variants of main characters but with a great collection comes great responsibility to buy everything you see. Luckily the booth owner was someone we have bought things from in the past so she took pity on me and gave me a decent enough price break considering the rarity of the items in question.

The standing Count Duckula is probably my number one favorite out of the three I purchased. As for likeness he gets a strong A+. The paint job is a little chalky looking and at first I thought it was an eraser but it really does match the cell shaded, unremastered glory that is the original source material. It’s like both the figure and the cartoon gracefully aged together. I’d even consider using this as a birthday cake topper for myself in the near future I like it so much. Don’t question my logic here…….

The guitar playing Count Duckula is probably my least favorite of the three I purchased. He was the one where I reasoned with myself about already buying two figurines and even though it
was a variant of the main character, when would I see this again in my hand. Once again irrational love wins over logic and it cost me another $8.

Dr Von Goosewing was an excellent addition to the score. Totally my second favorite of all three, usually you see Igor the butler or Nanny online but I haven’t seen Goosewing while I’ve been hunting. The sculpt is great, they nailed everything from his spats to the crosshairs on his gun ( a blunderbuss!) . An exciting find and a total win for my collection. My wife has a very keen eye and without it I’d still have a need to add these to my collection.